As women and men actively romance online to find their elusive soulmates, the apps report how they are taking measures for safety and privacy. By Team Viva

A few years ago in India, when every other individual didn’t have a smartphone, romancing online was largely limited to sending friend requests to people or perhaps lurking in chatrooms, hoping that the soulmate you were chatting with wasn’t an eager septuagenarian and then there were all the matrimonial websites.

Dating apps in India have changed much of that, removing some of the surreptitiousness and leaps of faith that tended to come with virtual searches for love. And so are the people who no longer need their parents to trawl through ‘suitable’ profiles and they are a lot more open to casual meetings and online interactions with potential dates and mates.

The data of men versus women in terms of usage of dating apps in India is, 28 per cent and 72 per cent respectively according to Woo.  The age group that is most active is between 25-35 and the regions where the dating apps are used most are some of the top metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune.

However Solene Paillet, Head Communication Gleeden, a French online dating app which is primarily marketed for women who are already into a relationship, says, “Usually when we look at the researches, it states that men are more active on dating apps rather than women in India. As per the surveys there are only 26 per cent female users. These are very less in compare to other countries where almost 40 per cent women are using these apps. But now, things are changing as the apps being introducing in India incorporate features that ensure that women get their privacy and security. These apps are rapidly growing in popularity in metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi not only among men but women are also active on them.” Gleeden had signed up subscribers from India long before it launched last year. Today the app has about 3.5 lakh users in India with a majority of users coming from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. According to Gleeden’s data, 45,000 users of the app are in Bengaluru, 85,000 in Mumbai and 80,000 in Delhi and over $4 million users worldwide. The age group most active on the platform is between 34 – 49 and most members are professionals, many senior executives, doctors, lawyers or bankers.

Most of the apps have features that have been incorporated to make women feel safe. Speaking on the safety of women’s safety, Sumesh Menon, CEO and Co-Founder of Woo, said, “The dating industry in India is very dynamic where security and privacy being of prime importance. As a women-first app, Woo is constantly innovating and devising features in this direction like the Woo Hide and Woo Calling they are centered around the woman. Woo wouldn’t go down the route of aping the west and would always be focused on India.”

Taru Kapoor, GM, Tinder India, says that the app caters to women in particular with the double opt-in, as it gives them complete control of who they meet and speak to. “It also creates a community that is free of judgement and prevents unsolicited attention, as users can only message someone after they match. Besides making the dating experience accessible via mobile and pioneering the double opt-in and swipe feature. A user can also unmatch should she change her mind at any point and can report a match if she experiences misconduct or suspicious behavior from the other user. This creates a safe, non-judgmental platform where women are free to choose, discover and interact with like-minded people based on shared interest and mutual consent.”

She says that as per the data, women in India feel particularly empowered by Tinder’s ‘Super Like’ feature and send super likes more often than men.

The app has launched ‘My Move’ that provides women the autonomy to choose how to engage with their matches and empowers them to control their experiences.

 In terms of safety, she says the app was constructed keeping a zero-tolerance policy for online harassment. “Tinder is based on mutual consent, and so a user cannot receive unsolicited messages and no one can message a person until s/he has also swiped right.”